Have you noticed?
There’s something in the air…
Well, there’s something in the pixels anyway: a subtle but significant rebrand of The Frustrated Nester.
Over the past few months new ideas have formed, and new opportunities have been exploited, and it’s been an exhilarating time, actually. I say ‘actually’ because I hadn’t really noticed in the fog of transition and settling in to our new Danish life. But now I realise I’ve been working hard, and it’s been energising.
Did you know that as well as contributing to the upcoming anthology Life on the Move, I also worked on it as copy-editor? It was one of my goals for 2018 to take on freelance copy-editing work, and that project gave me a real springboard into offering my services professionally. The book will be published VERY SOON! Don’t worry, you’ll be the first to know when I have the release date!
And I’ve joined the team of The International, a newspaper for and about internationals living in Denmark, with a monthly column about expat life in Esbjerg. The June edition is landing at distribution spots as I write! Give me a shout if you want to know where you can get yours, or check out the latest digital edition here.
It’s also been a time of clarification, and planning. I’ve come to realise that various ideas I had in mind, which seemed like disparate, unconnected strands, can actually be woven together into my bigger picture.
I was privileged enough to be back in Venice last month for another retreat with writing guru Rachael Herron (see more about my 2017 visit here and here). Being there helped me make the connections, and to understand that it all fits around my core theme. Knowing that has given me the confidence to go forward with the project I’ve probably always wanted to write.
(I wonder if you already have an idea of what my core theme is…keep reading and see if you’re right!)
So, I’m writing a memoir.
I know what you might be thinking. I, too, used to shy away from reading memoirs, not imagining there was anything for me in the lives of others who were not already somehow known to me.
But then I did start reading memoirs, for various reasons, and learned that memoir can be compelling, poetic, enlightening, and reassuring. I realised that sometimes, reading into the life of a real person can be more deeply edifying than fiction.
My book will be a memoir of place, and more significantly, of home. (Did you get it? That’s it! ‘Home’ is my core theme.)
But here’s the really exciting part! I’m going to take you to those places with me as I write them!
Rather than a straightforward narrative of how I changed after I left my original ‘home’, I’ll be writing a series of essays: describing the places I’ve called home, how I experienced them, how they changed me, to what extent they became a forever home for me. Describing and creating a sense of place is where my writing has always sung, and resonated the most with people, and I’m so excited to unleash more of that.
I really hope you want to get in on it, and read along as I re-explore the places I’ve lived or visited, and the experiences they’ve given me. For me, this is a journey beyond the blog, going deeper into the insights I’ve gained from living internationally. Are you coming with me?
I’ve written the first one, and it’s about Venice. About the city’s dizzying contrasts, and about how I find a sense of belonging in Venice, but why it could never feel like home.
You can be one of the first to read it, by clicking here to join the journey and have it delivered exclusively to your inbox. Once you’ve signed up, as well as the Venice essay, you’ll be the first to read essays and extracts as I write them, as well as news of other published writing and beyond-the-blog insights.
Yes, I know what you might be thinking, again. But here’s the thing: how did you get to this post today? Probably via Facebook, or perhaps Instagram. We’ve all come to a point where we rely on these middle-man networks to flag up what we’re interested in. And that can be useful – but not reliable. The algorithms keep things from you. But when you agree to receive emails from the people you support, there are no algorithms filtering your inbox – what you want to see is just between you and the unsubscribe button.
And I know that the space in your inbox comes at a premium. But when I glance through my new mails, it’s the ones from my favourite writers and bloggers that light up my inbox, that I’ll save to settle back and savour later. So I’ll make sure that my once-a-month emails are a highlight for you too.
Most importantly, the Venice essay will not be published anywhere else! So this is your only chance to read it. And I am VERY proud of it. Not only that, my most stringent beta reader, MT, from whom unqualified praise is rare indeed, has pronounced it ‘very good indeed’. No qualifications.
Are you joining me? Sign up here, keep me motivated and accountable, and get in on my journey beyond the blog!
Oh yes! And share! Please consider sharing: this post, or when you see something on Facebook or Instagram. It’s always motivating to know that people want me to keep doing what I’m doing!
The Frustrated Nester 